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The Wait

I am impatient. My husband is not. I wanted to get married quickly. He wanted to wait. Kids? Let's have them now. He wanted us to be a little more stable than living in a 750 square foot apartment paying off debt. Wait. Wait. Wait. I struggled to be patient. At one point, my sweet husband asked me not to pray for patience anymore because it was affecting him. The wait is not my favorite.

It's funny because when I finally get to the goal or attain the desire, I know the timing is perfect. I can see how the weaving back and forth came together perfectly. But it's so hard to see perfection in the waiting room.

"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign Lord, "when I will send a famine through the land-not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord." Amos 8:11

I am currently reading through the minor prophets of the Old Testament. The minor prophets end the Old Testament. They are the last we hear from God for 400 years until the New Testament. Israel is a mess in the book of Amos. The theme of this book is social justice and God's judgment. The people of Israel continued to be unfaithful and disobedient. Because of this, God's judgment was coming down on them. At the end of the Old Testament, God goes silent.

Can you imagine a silent God? I cannot imagine not seeing, feeling, or hearing God on a regular basis whether that's through a sunset, my kids, or a sermon I hear. The people were promised a Savior. They were ravished, beat down, and desperate and God was quiet. They were stuck in the wait, in between God being far and removed and a Savior that would become a man changing everything.

Silence is not my favorite. If you've met me personally, you know I love to talk. I usually have music on or a podcast. I have three boys and a dog. Someone is always yelling, thumping, talking, barking, banging, or singing. I cannot fathom living in a season where I know God still exists yet He is silent. A season in which I am waiting for this Savior people talked about through generations: God yet man who was going to turn the world upside down. Man, that would be rough for me. Thank goodness I was born when I was.

The wait is hard, y'all. I have had a few opportunities in the last couple months to say yes to some things. These are things that give me life and excite me-those kinds of things you were created for. Every time, however, I went to click "yes", I heard this still little whisper saying "wait." Every time. Ugh. Wait for what? What am I waiting for? Are you sure I am supposed to wait? Now I am talking to myself so I must be crazy. This waiting has made me a little deranged.

I love how Amos refers to the Lord as Sovereign in the passage above. He is describing an unbearable time that is about to come on the people of Israel yet he reminds them that God is still sovereign. These people are going to be completely removed from God. They are going to experience a spiritual famine. Yet, God is still sovereign.

I looked up what it really means when the Bible refers to God as sovereign and here is what I found at christianity.com

There is absolutely nothing that happens in the universe that is outside of God’s influence and authority. As King of kings and Lord of lords, God has no limitations. Consider just a few of the claims the Bible makes about God:
God is above all things and before all things. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is immortal, and He is present everywhere so that everyone can know Him (Revelation 21:6).
God created all things and holds all things together, both in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16).
God knows all things past, present, and future. There is no limit to His knowledge, for God knows everything completely before it even happens (Romans 11:33).
God can do all things and accomplish all things. Nothing is too difficult for Him, and He orchestrates and determines everything that is going to happen in your life, in my life, in America, and throughout the world. Whatever He wants to do in the universe, He does, for nothing is impossible with Him (Jeremiah 32:17).
God is in control of all things and rules over all things. He has power and authority over nature, earthly kings, history, angels, and demons. Even Satan himself has to ask God’s permission before he can act (Psalm 103:19).
That’s what being sovereign means. It means being the ultimate source of all power, authority, and everything that exists. Only God can make those claims; therefore, it’s God’s sovereignty that makes Him superior to all other gods and makes Him, and Him alone, worthy of worship.

We can take such comfort in this! The Lord is sovereign. He is in control even when we feel out of control. He is maneuvering things for us in such a way that is more perfect than we can imagine. He is present even when he feels absent. He has our future in the palm of his hands and it is good (Jeremiah 29:11).

I am in the wait. I sit in the waiting room of life and sometimes it feels cold and stagnant. I can stay in that place or I can decide to decorate. While I wait for that thing I know God has for me, that thing that fulfills the desire of my heart, I hang curtains of beauty in my life by living. The wait does not mean life stops. The wait brings growth, experience, and the hope of possibility.

If you are in a season of wait, remember that the Lord our God is Sovereign. Hang some curtains, light a candle, and stay awhile. You may actually enjoy your time in the waiting room.

"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:14

Love & Blessings,
Meg

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